Basket.



M. HINKLEY.

BASKET.

APPUCATION FILED OCT. 21. 1915.

. Patented Aug. 7,19l7.

'4/% 72655366" 7.40am. M fwd/1%? ra n MILTON HINKLEY, OF BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN.

BASKET.

Application filed October 21, 1915.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON HINKLEY, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Benton Harbor, Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Baskets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the provision of center posts in baskets to support the covers thereof when one basket is placed on top of another. For example, bushel and half bushel baskets are provided with flat covers which would sag at the center and crush the fruit or other contents, if another basket or any heavy object were placed on top thereof. It has become customary, therefore, to pro vide these baskets with center posts which support the middle portion of the cover. Hereto-fore, these posts have been applied by first inserting a fastening device upwardly through the bottom of the basket, and by then inserting said device in the lower end of the post. This construction and method have, however, been found to be objectionable in various ways.

The object of my invention is, therefore, to provide a novel construction and method which will render the provision of center posts in baskets less expensive and more satisfactory than heretofore.

To this and other useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l, is a vertical section of a basket having a cover and a center post support therefor embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2, is a horizontal section on line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, i a perspective of the metal block in which the pointed fastening devices are placed in position to receive the lower ends of the posts, whereby one point of each fastening device is driven into the lower end of the post, leaving the other point extending downward therefrom.

Fig. 4, is a sectional view illustrating the manner in which the fastening device is inserted in the lower end of the post.

As thus illustrated, my invention com prises a basket A of the usual form or construction, being what is ordinarily known as a bushel or half bushel basket. The said basket is provided with a flat cover 13 of the usual form or construction, consisting of a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 7, 1917.

Serial No. 57,117.

hoop b which rests on the rim of the basket, and slats or sheet material, such as strips of veneer, fastened to the top of said hoop. The cross slat C is secured to the top of the said cover and extends under the handles a of the basket to hold the cover in place. The bottom of the basket is held together by a nail or center rivet D having upper and lower washers (Z in the usual well known manner.

The post E is preferably a round rod of wood, being of a length to support the central portion of the cover when placed upright on the bottom of the basket. The fastening device F has one point thereof inserted upwardly in the said post, and the other point inserted downwardly at one side of nail D and washers (Z in the bottom of the basket, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby holding the lower end of said post in position. This fastening device, it will be seen, comprises two sharp points and an integral connection between their heads, this connection forming a shoulder f, where the two points are united.

In accordance with my invention, several of these fastening devices F are placed in the holes 1 of the metal block G, indicated in Fig. 3, and these fastening devices are then successivelypicked up byplacing the posts thereon and pounding their upper ends with a hammer. In this way a fastening device is inserted in the lower end of each post, as shown in Fig. -l, leaving the lower point of each fastening device exposed and extending downward from the end of the post. This, ordinarily, is all done by the user of the basket, just prior to filling the same with fruit or other commodities, and the posts when thus furnished with sharp points are placed one in each basket. Then each basket, before being filled, has its allotted post attached thereto in proper position by simply placing the sharp point as close to the center of the bottom of the basket as possible, and by then pushing downward on the upper end of the post, causing said sharp point to enter the soft wood of the basket. When the cover is applied, as shown in Fig. 1, the middle portion thereof is supported by the upper end of said post, and in this way one basket can be placed on top of another without danger of crushing the fruit or contents thereof. Ordinarily, the posts are of somewhat harder wood than the basket, and generally the point stays in the post Crf) when the latter is pulled upward after the basket is emptied. After the sharp points are inserted in the posts, no special means are then required for applying the posts to the baskets, as the latter can rest on the ground or on an ordinary floor with suflicient firmness to effectively receive the sharp point when the post is poised above the bottom of the basket and then pushed downward by hand. a

Thus it will be seen that my invention contemplates a simple and comparatively inexpensive method of applying a center post to baskets of this character and serves to facilitate the attaching of. the posts to the baskets. The basket can be manufactured in the usual form, and then supplied to the customers with a post for each basket, and with the sharp points or fastening devices in a separate package. The posts are then applied by the user in the manner explained, and without the necessity of any tools except the metal block G and an ordinary hammer. The fastening device F, after the posts are applied and the baskets are filled, cannot work loose or drop out as the result of handling and transportation of the baskets.

lVith the foregoing construction, it will be seen that the post E can be inserted downwardly with the fastening device F in the lower end thereof, and thus secured to the bottom of the basket, without the necessity of boring holes in the bottom of the basket,

and without turning the basket upside down,

the post by this method being held in place and removable independently of the center fastening device D for the bottom of the basket. This device D is inserted upwardly through the upper and lower washers d, and then bent over at its upper end in the manner shown. With this arrangement, the lower end of the post E and its fastening device F will be depressed at one side of the device D, but this slight displacement of the lower end of the post from the center of the basket will not be objectionable and will not interfere with the function or purpose of the post.

What I claim as my invention is:

A basket, a removable cover for said basket, a solid center post of wood for said basket to support the middle portion of said cover, a center fastening device for the bottom of said basket, a sharp metal point to be inserted downward and at one side of said device in the bottom of said basket, a sharp metal point to be inserted upward in the lower end of said post, and an integral connection between said points, so that said post can be inserted in place without any special provision in the basket therefor, said post being held in place and removable independently of said device, substantially as shown and described.

Signed by me at Benton Harbor, Michigan, this 12th day of October, 1915.

MILTON HINKLEY.

Witnesses:

CHAs. K. FARMER, FRANCES H. Moonn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.. 

